Not less than 16 Nigerians recently have been deported by Ghana’s Financial and Intelligence Agency over their alleged involvement in cybercrimes in their country.
This was disclosed by the Controller of the Seme Command, Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Dr Chukwu Emeka during a news briefing with journalists on Friday.
He said that many of the suspects had left Nigeria to other West African countries through illegal routes.
“We also discovered that most of them travelled without genuine travel documents, so when they got to Ghana they became prey to the authorities,” he added.
He revealed that some of the some deportees were engaged in criminal activities due to get- rich syndrome among young people.
According to Emeka, these are young Nigerians, who claimed that they were deceived or intentionally went out of the country in search of greener pastures.
“Ghana’s Financial and Intelligence Agency accused them of cybercrimes but from our preliminary investigation, we discovered that some of them were lured into these criminal activities due to the get-rich syndrome our youths are developing.
“Some of them are victims in the sense that they were deceived that they can make money if they leave Nigeria. Unfortunately, they don’t get the actual thing they bargained for in Ghana.
“The Comptroller General of NIS, Mr Idris Jere, has always advised Nigerians to get genuine travellers’ documents before leaving the country.
“Yes, we are part of the ECOWAS treaty of free movement and goods within the sub-region, the condition is that you must enter those countries through a legitimate route and with the right travel documents.
“It is also important to have definite means of livelihood, if not; by the time you get there, they will see you as a public charge and they will return you to your country,” he said.
